New Faces On Pace To Join The NHL's 100-Point Club This Season

It’s a special milestone when players hit the 100-point mark, especially for the first time in their careers as only a handful of players reach this plateau each season.

Nine players scored 100-plus points last season with Nikita Kucherov (144 points) and Nathan MacKinnon (140 points) leading the league.

In addition, Kucherov and Connor McDavid reached 100 assists to end the campaign. It was the first time any player had at least 100 assists in a season since Wayne Gretzky (122) in 1990-91. It was also the first time two players put up at least 100 helpers in the same season since Gretzky and Mario Lemieux in 1988-89 – they both recorded 114 assists.

This season, several players could score 100 points for the first time in their careers. They have a chance to join the 126 players who have completed this feat.

Kyle Connor, LW, Winnipeg Jets

Kyle Connor has been one of the league’s most prolific scorers since the 2017-18 campaign. In Connor’s eight years in the NHL, he has six 30-plus-goal seasons.

The two seasons in which the left winger didn’t reach 30 tallies were his rookie year, when he played 20 games, and the 2020-21 campaign, which was shortened due to the global pandemic.

Connor has always been a scorer, but he’s rounded out his game this season. In 35 games, the 28-year-old has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points with the Winnipeg Jets. He’s on pace to set new career bests.

In the 2021-22 season, Connor put up 93 points and had the fifth most goals in the league with 47. This year, he’s on pace to hit 100 points on the nose.

Jack Eichel, C, Vegas Golden Knights

No player has scored 100 points in a season for the Vegas Golden Knights. However, Jack Eichel may be the one to change that and make history. The center has shifted into a new gear this season.

Eichel has had his fair share of injuries throughout his career, including a herniated disc in his neck that he suffered with the Buffalo Sabres, resulting in a lengthy absence. Nonetheless, he returned to action with new threads and became a member of the Golden Knights.

Eichel has yet to play a full NHL season in his career. But, if he’s able to remain healthy this year, the 28-year-old may record his first 100-point season. The closest he’s ever been to that milestone was with the Sabres when he scored 82 points in the 2018-19 campaign.

This season, Eichel is on pace to hit the century mark for the first time in the franchise’s history. After 33 games, Eichel has nine goals and 44 points. At this rate, he is projected to score over 20 goals and reach 109 points.

Mitch Marner, RW, Toronto Maple Leafs

Mitch Marner is in a contract year with the Toronto Maple Leafs. So far this season, he’s been playing at a rate where he will earn a massive new deal for next year.

Marner couldn’t have gotten closer to reaching 100 points in the 2022-23 season. He recorded 30 goals and a career-high 69 assists for 99 points. The 27-year-old played 80 games, which leaves the question of what if he played those two outstanding games?

In the season before that, Marner put up 97 points in 72 games. With a points-per-game average of 1.35, Marner should’ve recorded well over 100 points. However, he was sidelined in the middle of the season by a shoulder injury.

This season, Marner has 10 goals and 45 points through 34 games. The playmaker is tied for second in the league in assists with 35 on the campaign. Marner is on pace for 24 goals and 84 assists for 108 points.

Martin Necas, RW, Carolina Hurricanes

Martin Necas is the youngest player on this list as a 25-year-old, drafted 12th overall in 2017 by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Necas started this season with a hot hand and he led the league in points at various moments of this campaign. The Czech even strung together a 13-game point streak between Oct. 22 and Nov. 17.

The right winger scored 27 points in that span, including eight multi-point games and two four-point performances. That’s the third-longest point streak in the post-Hartford Whalers era. Only Dougie Hamilton and teammate Sebastian Aho top Necas, each with 14-game point streaks.

Necas has exploded offensively this season compared to other years. He never averaged over a point per game in his career. However, this season, he averages 1.38 points per game.

With 14 goals and 44 points this season, Necas is on pace to score around 35 goals and could reach the 110-point mark, let alone the 100 mark.

Sam Reinhart, RW, Florida Panthers

Sam Reinhart is coming off a career-year and a Stanley Cup-winning season with the Florida Panthers. If it weren’t for Auston Matthews’ 69 goals to take home his third Rocket Richard Trophy, Reinhart would’ve had a real case to win that award.

The Panthers right winger had 57 tallies last season, destroying his previous best of 33 goals in the 2021-22 season, his first campaign with Florida.

Along with Reinhart’s 57 goals last season, he had 37 helpers for a total of 94 points. It was just the second time in his career that he averaged more than a point per game. However, this season could be the third.

In 34 games this season, Reinhart has potted 20 goals and has 23 assists for 43 points on the year. These totals put him on pace to end the season with 48 goals and 103 points.

If everything goes to plan for Reinhart, he will become the third player in Panthers history to score 100 points in a season, joining Jonathan Huberdeau and teammate Matthew Tkachuk.

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